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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Your email has been received by the Department of Home Affairs Freedom of
Information (FOI) Section.

The FOI section only responds to valid FOI requests and other matters
relating to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).  Visit the
FOI Information on our Website for more information on what [1]information
can be accessed under the FOI Act 1982.

What is a valid FOI request?

A valid FOI request may be for:

- documents you previously provided to the Department as part of a visa
application

- a copy of a decision record made by the Department

- statistical information held by the Department

- papers or briefings the Department prepared.

If your email is a valid FOI request, the Department will contact you
shortly to acknowledge your request.

A valid FOI request must:

o Be in writing and state the request is for consideration under the FOI
Act.
o Have enough information for us to be able to identify the documents
you are seeking.
o Provide a physical or electronic address where we can send our
decision.

Do not send duplicate emails as this may cause longer delays in processing
times.

What is an invalid FOI request?

Invalid FOI requests may include:

- Making a visa application

- Seeking evidence of your Australian Citizenship

- Seeking information about traveling to or departing Australia.

If your email is not specific an FOI request or FOI related matter, the
FOI section will not respond.

What happens next?

Once we receive and have registered your FOI request, we will send you an
acknowledgment letter by email. Read the acknowledgment letter carefully
for further instructions.

FOI requests are generally processed in the order they are received.

We will contact you as soon as the Department has assessed your request
under the FOI Act.

We’re responding to a large volume of requests

Due to the current high volume of requests, we will not provide progress
up-dates on current FOI requests.  This is to ensure we are able to
process as many requests as possible, including yours.

If processing your request is going to take us a lot of time and because
it is large or unspecific, it may be refused.  

Still have a question or request?

If you still have a question, which has not been answered above, and which
is about the work of the Department, use our general enquiries web page

[2]https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-sup...

You may be able to resolve your enquiry faster using these other resources

We only action and respond to FOI requests that are valid under the
Freedom of Information Act 1982. You may be able to resolve your enquiry
faster by using these resources:

General information about travelling to Australia:

The Department of Home Affairs, “Entering Australia” site
[3]https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering...

·       For visa and our requirements for entry to Australia
[4]https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/ge...

For a copy of your visa refusal or visa grant letter you should contact
the office where you lodged your visa application. 

·       To check your current visa details and conditions use the
Department’s Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) portal which can
be accessed [5]here

·       If you are experiencing technical difficulties in lodging your
visa application through ImmiAccount, submit your concerns through the
ImmiAccount Technical Support Form, which is accessible [6]here.

·       For evidence of your Australian Citizenship please refer [7]here.
The FOI Section does not process these requests.

·       For movement records or travel history complete the online
International Movement Records form [8]here. The FOI Section does not
process these requests.

·       To update your details, including your Passport details, you can
notify the Department [9]here. The FOI Section does not process these
requests.

We appreciate your feedback         

We appreciate your feedback to help improve our services.

If you would like to provide feedback to us please use our Compliments,
complaints and suggestions form.
[10]https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-and-...

Thank you

Information updated 11 January 2022

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.  

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

References

Visible links
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2. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-sup...
3. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/entering...
4. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/ge...
5. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/al...
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OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 23/01/00988
File Number: FA23/01/00988

Dear Mohammed Khan,

I refer to your email dated 22 January 2023 in which you request access to documents held by the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

I am writing to advise that your request is not valid for the purposes of section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act in its current form, and to provide you with an opportunity to revise your request so that it is a valid request. This is called a ‘request consultation process’. Please respond to this notice in one of the ways set out below.

Scope of Request
You have requested access to the following:

In the wake of the collapse of the collaborationist regime in Afghanistan, deeply disturbing revelations have been made about the crimes committed against civilians by various paramilitary units of the former regime- such as https://www.propublica.org/article/afgha... among many others.

Given Australia's commitment to human rights, and the danger that seasoned killers of innocent civilians pose to the Australian people:
1) Have former militants of the "National Directorate of Security" been allowed to immigrate to Australia?
2) Have former militants of the "Afghan National Army Commando Corps" been allowed to immigrate to Australia?

Power to refuse request
Section 24 of the FOI Act provides that if the Department is satisfied that a practical refusal reason exists in relation to a request, the Department must undertake a consultation process with you, and if, after that consultation process, the Department remains satisfied that the practical refusal reason still exists, the Department may refuse to give you access to the documents subject to the request.

Practical refusal
A practical refusal reason exists if either (or both) of the following applies:
(a) the work involved in the processing of the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the Department from its other operations
(b) the request does not satisfy the requirement in section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act, which requires you to provide such information concerning the document you are seeking access to, to enable the Department to be able to identify it.

Reasons for practical refusal
The Department has considered the scope of this request and its capacity to conduct searches of relevance based on the current scope. It is my preliminary view that your request, in its current form, is not specific enough to enable the Department to identify documents in scope of your request.

In order to process your request in a timely manner, FOI and the relevant business area require your assistance to clarify the scope of your request.

Please clarify the following points of the scope of your request:

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 provides the right to obtain access to 'a document of an agency'. As such, it is not possible for the Department to provide responses to questions under the FOI Act.
Please identify documents you require access to.

Request Consultation Process
You now have an opportunity to revise your request to enable it to proceed.
Your request is currently not a valid request for the purposes of section 15(2)(b) of the FOI Act. As part of this practical refusal consultation, you have 14 days to do one of the following:
• make a revised request;
• indicate that you do not wish to revise your request;
• withdraw your request.

If you do not do one of the three things listed above during the consultation period (14 days) or you do not consult the contact person listed below during this period, the Department will deem your request to be withdrawn.
Contact

Should you wish to revise your request or have any questions in relation to this process, please do not hesitate to contact the FOI section at [Department of Home Affairs request email]

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information
Department of Home Affairs

E: [Department of Home Affairs request email]

Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy

In reply please quote:
FOI Request: FA 23/01/00988
File Number: FA23/01/00988

Dear Mohammed Khan,

Thank you for your response.

The phrase 'all documents' is too broad. Please identify the specific documents you require access to.

Also, please provide a date range for the documents you require. For example, January 2022 - December 2022.

Kind regards,

Freedom of Information
Department of Home Affairs

E: [Department of Home Affairs request email]

Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive

show quoted sections

OFFICIAL

In reply please quote:

FOI Request:           FA 23/01/00988

File Number:           FA23/01/00988      

Dear Mr Khan

I refer to your email dated 22 January 2023 in which you request access to
documents held by the Department of Home Affairs (the Department) under
the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act).

Scope of Request

You have requested access to the following documents held by the
Department:

In the wake of the collapse of the collaborationist regime in Afghanistan,
deeply disturbing revelations have been made about the crimes committed
against civilians by various paramilitary units of the former regime- such
as
https://www.propublica.org/article/afgha...
among many others.

Given Australia's commitment to human rights, and the danger that seasoned
killers of innocent civilians pose to the Australian people:
1) Have former militants of the "National Directorate of Security" been
allowed to immigrate to Australia?
2) Have former militants of the "Afghan National Army Commando Corps" been
allowed to immigrate to Australia?.

On 23 January 2023, the Department sent you a notice under section 24AB(2)
of the Act, advising you that a ‘practical refusal reason’ existed in
relation to this request. I advised you that I was satisfied that your
request met the definition of a practical refusal reason in section
24AA(1)(b) of the Act, as it appeared that the request does not satisfy
the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b) in that it does not provide such
information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to enable a
responsible officer of the agency to identify it.

Under the notice, you were provided with a 14 day ‘consultation period’,
during which you could consult with me about the scope of the request. The
notice advised you that you were required to respond before the end of the
consultation period and either (a) withdraw your request or (b) revise the
scope of your request or (c) confirm that you did not wish to revise the
scope. The notice advised that if you failed to respond before the end of
the consultation period to do one of those three things, the request would
be ‘deemed withdrawn’ under section 24AB(6)(a) of the Act.

You responded to the notice on 23 January 2023 and provided a new scope
for the Department to consider, as follows:

Revised request- all documents relating to the immigration to Australia
of:

1) former militants of the "National Directorate of Security" of the
collaborationist regime in Afghanistan

2) former militants of the "Afghan National Army Commando Corps" of the
collaborationist regime in Afghanistan

On 25 January 2023, the Department wrote to you again advising that the
term ‘all documents’ is too broad to enable reasonable searches to be
conducted and requesting a date range for the requested documents.

On 30 January 2023, you responded to this email, further revising the
scope of your request to be:

All documents that would record affiliations of Afghans with "National
Directorate of Security" "zero groups" and the "Afghan National Army
Commando Corps", which are known to have committed war crimes wholesale
against the Afghan people.

Date range should be from the liberation of Afghanistan from
American-collaborator rule on 15 August 2021 through end January 2023.

After considering your response, I am satisfied that your request still
does not provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably
necessary to enable a responsible officer of the agency to identify it.
Therefore, I am satisfied that a practical refusal reason still exists
under section 24AA(1)(b) of the Act.

Decision

I am an officer authorised under section 23 of the Act to make decisions
in respect of requests to access documents. My decision is to refuse
access under section 24(1)(b) of the Act. My reasons are set out below.

Section 24(1)(b) of the Act provides that, where a practical refusal
reason exists, an agency may refuse to process a request only if the
agency has undertaken the ‘consultation process’ in section 24AB of the
Act and, after completing the consultation, the agency remains satisfied
that a practical refusal reason exists.

I note that I have undertaken the consultation process in section 24AB.
Nevertheless, I remain satisfied that the request still meets the
definition of a ‘practical refusal reason’ in section 24AA(1)(b) in that
the request does not satisfy the requirement in paragraph 15(2)(b), as
stated above. The revised scope of your request is still too broad to
enable the Department to conduct reasonable searches for documents.

Therefore, I am refusing your request for access under section 24(1)(b) of
the Act.

Your FOI request has accordingly been closed on our system. I invite you
to submit a new request to the Department, should you wish to do so,
taking into account my correspondence to you on scope.

Your Review Rights

Internal Review

If you disagree with this decision, you have the right to apply for an
internal review by the Department of this decision.  Any request for
internal review must be provided to the Department within 30 days of you
being notified of the decision.  Where possible please attach reasons why
you believe a review of the decision is necessary.  The internal review
will be carried out by an officer other than the original decision maker
and the Department must make a review decision within 30 days. 

Applications for review should be sent to:

By email to: [1][email address]

OR

By mail to:

Freedom of Information Section

Department of Home Affairs

PO Box 25

BELCONNEN   ACT  2617

Review by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

You may apply directly to the Office of the Australian Information
Commissioner (OAIC) for a review of this decision.  You must apply in
writing within 60 days of this notice.  For further information about
review rights and how to submit a request for a review to the OAIC, please
see
[2]https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor....

Making a Complaint

You may complain to the Australian Information Commissioner about action
taken by the Department in relation to your request.

Your enquiries to the Australian Information Commissioner can be directed
to:

Phone 1300 363 992 (local call charge)
Email  [3][email address]

There is no particular form required to make a complaint to the Australian
Information Commissioner. The request should be in writing and should set
out the grounds on which it is considered that the action taken in
relation to the request should be investigated and identify the Department
of Home Affairs as the relevant agency.

Contact

Should you wish to discuss this decision, please do not hesitate to
contact the FOI Section at [email address].

Kind regards

Rebecca

Position 60007879

Assistant Director - Freedom of Information

FOI and Records Management Branch | Legal Group

Department of Home Affairs | www.homeaffairs.gov.au

OFFICIAL

Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately.  This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
 

Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. 
The Department of Home Affairs and ABF respect your privacy and have
obligations under the Privacy Act 1988.  

Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:foi.reviews@
2. https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-infor...
3. mailto:[email address]